Recipes

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Salted Caramel Brownies

Salted Caramel Brownies
1 C unsalted butter
4 T cocoa powder
1 tsp. espresso powder (optional)
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate baking bar
2 C all-purpose (AP) flour
2 C granulated sugar
pinch of salt
4 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C English toffee bits
1/2 C caramel topping
coarse Sea Salt crystals
1/4 C walnuts, chopped (if desired)
Heat oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan over medium low heat, combine the butter, cocoa, espresso* (if desired), and the unsweetened chocolate bar until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Pour the chocolate mixture over the flour mixture and with a mixer, beat on low to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat for one minute. Add the chocolate chips and toffee bits and stir just to combine. Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13 baking dish or a divided brownie pan** greased or sprayed with cooking spray. Bake the 9x13 for 30 minutes, and the divided pan for 18 minutes.  When done, remove from oven and immediately drizzle with the caramel sauce, it helps to warm the caramel sauce in the microwave to soften for about 20 seconds. Once the caramel is on, sprinkle lightly with the sea salt. If you'd like you can sprinkle the top with the chopped walnuts too.
*Using the espresso powder is optional, however, I find that it enhances the chocolate flavor.
**Makes 21 brownies using a large scoop to put into each section of the pan.

Creating new recipes

Today I've been busy working on some recipes for the cookbook I'm working on. I hope to have it done by next summer. Fingers crossed! I'll share a few on here but I'd really like to save them for my book. I'm going to start with a Salted Caramel Brownie. I made a recipe from Ina Garten a couple of weeks ago but I wasn't very happy with it. Sorry Ina! I found it crumbly and hard around the edges. I like to make my brownies in a divided brownie pan, because I love the edges. When I made Ina's recipe, the brownies fell apart and the edges got really hard. Oh well, I have a recipe here that I'll share, hope that you will enjoy, and they are delicious and pretty easy to make. I'll post a few pictures of the pan and steps along the way.
I combined the main ingredients and added some of my favorites, English toffee bits:

Mini semi sweet chocolate chips:
Here is my favorite brownie pan to use:



Drizzling the yummy caramel topping:


Adding the coarse sea salt:

and finally the finished product, yum!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Fried Chicken

Here is my recipe for Fried Chicken, the crust is so light and delicious it practically melts in your mouth and the meat is so moist and tender. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!



Lightly breaded Fried Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 TBS salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
vegetable oil (pour to 1" deep in fry pan)

Heat the oil on medium to medium high heat in pan (oil temp should reach about 350°).
Pound out the thickest part of the chicken breast to make it even, this ensures even cooking. Combine heavy cream and ranch dressing in a bowl, set aside. Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a gallon size ziploc bag. Dip the chicken into the cream mixture, shaking gently to remove the excess cream, drop into the dry mixture bag and shake to coat evenly. Fry in the hot oil, turning each piece over only one time during cooking. Depending on how thick the pieces are, they should be ready to turn after 8 minutes. Cook on the other side till done (about another 8 minutes, again depending on the size of the piece). Chicken is done when the juices run clear (NOT pink).

Creamy potato salad

Creamy Potato Salad
6 to 8 medium sized red potatoes, cooked and chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup pickles, diced
4 hard cooked eggs, sliced or chopped
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup garden vegetable cream cheese
2 TBS dijon mustard
1 tsp celery salt
S & P to taste

Combine the vegetables in a large bowl, gently stir in the salt, pepper and celery salt to coat, set aside. Cream together the mayo, sour cream, cream cheese and mustard. Pour over potatoes and stir, add the eggs and gently combine all.

Fran's Goulash

If I haven't mentioned before...I don't follow recipes very well. :)
I do to a certain extent...but more often than not I like to pump up the volume a bit.
And here is a good tip to follow when creating a dish that you really don't know what to call it and you are basically using whatever is in the frig/freezer/and/or pantry...start with a trinity. What's a trinity you ask? Well I don't know for sure if that is what this is called but that is what I have called it for ... well forever. Or since I've been cooking. Start with a little extra virgin olive oil (EVOO as RR would say) maybe 2 tablespoons, or use a couple-ish tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan. Chop anywhere from one half to a whole onion and two or three stalks of celery. Dice one half of a bell pepper....any color they are ALL fabulous! Add 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1/4 tsp. of pepper (S&P). Cook these lovelies over medium heat until they are tender. Now it's up to you on whether or not to add these to the mix, but I throw in a couple of pinches of crushed red pepper, and depending on what dish I am preparing such as Italian I would add oregano, basil, thyme and parsley, and for Mexican I use oregano and just a pinch of thyme, cumin is great too but use the thyme and cumin sparingly especially if using dried. Cook this for about 3 more minutes and if you are adding meat, throw that in so your meat absorbs this delicious flavor of herbs. If you want a creamy sauce to your meat mixture, add in any type of stock, if using chicken use chicken, or beef stock when cooking beef. If you don't have either, Lipton's onion soup mix is really good too. Now, if you have diced tomatoes in the pantry toss a can of those in, or tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes work great. Oh I was talking creamy sauce too wasn't I? Sorry I got a bit off track...but as far as measuring, I really don't, I just pour stock in until I cover the meat, stir in my tomatoes and then I pour in some heavy cream...yes! the creaminess begins! And use your judgment on the cream, if I were to guess I think it is at least a half a cup measured. But taste it, and add more cream if you want. And don't forget to season it again, a little more S&P.

Goulash:
2 TBS olive oil or butter
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper (I used red)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 or less of dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound lean ground beef
Your favorite pasta, cooked (I used mezzi-rigatoni by Barilla, 1/2 box)
1 can (15 oz) diced or crushed tomatoes, or an 8 oz can of tomato sauce.
1 to 2 cups of beef stock
1/2 cup of heavy cream
In a saucepan sauté the onion, celery and bell pepper until tender. Sprinkle salt and pepper, crushed red pepper, oregano and thyme over all. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Add the ground beef and brown until no longer pink. Meanwhile cook your pasta so it is ready to combine. When the meat is cooked, add the can of tomatoes or sauce, add stock and cook for about 3 minutes over medium heat until heated through, then add the heavy cream and stir to combine.
Drain your pasta and add it back to your stockpot it was cooked in (I use my dutch oven) and pour the meat mixture over the pasta. Stir until all of the pasta is coated. If at this time it looks too dry, add more stock and if needed a little more cream. Continue to heat through. This will probably feed four to six hungry people. I had plenty of leftovers since only two of us ate tonight.










 

Pasta absorbs your sauce quickly so with your leftovers, add more stock to moisten as needed. Enjoy!

Beef and Peppers

I've made this recipe many times over the years, it's a favorite at our house. Actually we used to call it "Pepper Steak", but since I used a beef arm roast for this recipe, "steak" just didn't seem appropriate. Feel free to use your favorite cut of meat and call it what you want! I hope you enjoy it too!











Beef and Peppers
Round steak, sirloin steak or beef roast
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup any color bell peppers, sliced
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
2 packages brown gravy mix
2 cups water
2 cups Cooked rice

Heat a large skillet over medium high to high heat. Season the beef roast with salt and pepper and pan roast in 2 TBS olive or vegetable oil, (my roast was about 1 1/2 inches thick), sear each side for about 3 minutes per side and turn down heat to medium low, cover pan and continue to cook. If using steak, season and cut the meat into strips and pan fry until desired doneness. I pan roasted the meat for about an hour. Remove the roast from the skillet, when able to handle, slice it into thin strips. Add the onion, peppers and mushrooms to the skillet with the drippings, sauté until tender over medium heat.
Sprinkle the gravy mixes over the veggies and stir until completely incorporated into the vegetables. Turn up the heat to medium high and add the water stirring to combine. Once the mixture is thick and bubbly, add the sliced beef. Continue to cook until beef has heated through. Now wasn't that easy!
Serve over cooked rice or noodles.